Hey — It's Nico.

This newsletter contains:

• 5 resources for founders.
• 5 startup news.
• 1 failed startup.
• 1 hot startup.

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What to read this week?

✍️ Nathan Barr shares his journey to reaching $100k MRR in a year after being stuck at $1,500 MRR.

🤖 Ethan Mollick discusses how you can onboard your own AI Intern.

🧠 Julian Shapiro explains how VCs' minds work after being in the game for 4 years.

🤝 Michael Houck on when you should and shouldn't split Equity evenly.

👂 The MFM podcast talk about blue-collar hustles and other business ideas.

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What happened this week?

💰 VC firm Neo has raised $235M across two new funds.

👀 OpenAI proposes an international regulatory body for AI.

💵 Builder.ai raises $250M to simplify software development.

⚔️Twitter’s New CEO Linda Yaccarino says ‘game on’ as Instagram prepares Twitter clone.

📉 Women's health startup, FemTec to wind down operations.

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Failed startup: Seven Dreamers Laboratories

Seven Dreamers Laboratories, a Japanese-based startup that specialized in the development of AI, robotics, and healthcare devices, shut down in 2019.

The startup embarked on an ambitious project - developing a product called the Laundroid. The Laundroid was envisioned as a one-stop solution for laundry - a washing machine, dryer, ironer, and folding robot combined.

The company raised capital through three funding rounds between 2015 and 2017 to fuel the project. However, the startup ceased operations due to a series of strategic and operational missteps.

In Between the Lines:

The Laundroid project proved to be overly complex and technically challenging. The first-generation model required a complicated combination of robotics, image analysis, and artificial intelligence to function as they’d hoped. These complexities resulted in constant product delays and underwhelming demonstrations at public events eroding investor and potential customer confidence.

Additionally, Seven Dreamers failed to focus their resources on perfecting their flagship product. They spread their resources thin by developing other products like Nastent, a tube-shaped medical device to help people breathe while asleep. This lack of focus might have diluted efforts and resources, causing the Laundroid to underperform.

Lessons Learned:

The story of Seven Dreamers shows the problems that can arise from trying to develop too many products too quickly, especially when a startup hasn't yet succeeded with one. Spreading resources across multiple projects can lead to inefficiency and wasted effort. In the case of Seven Dreamers, focusing their resources on perfecting the Laundroid might have led to a different outcome.

Moreover, it’s important to check whether the technology to make and deliver your product or service is available and accessible. Seven Dreamers relied heavily on high-tech components like advanced robotics, image analysis, and AI. If such technologies are too complicated or hard to get, it could cause costs to rise and delay the project.

This advice doesn't apply to all startups, but it is especially important for those relying on advanced technology. Nowadays, anyone can create an AI app, but making a hardware robotics product presents different challenges and complexities.

Lastly, it's important to estimate the total cost of the project, the potential earnings, and the time it will take to break even. Seven Dreamers, despite getting money from several rounds of investment, found that the ongoing costs of developing the Laundroid were just too much to handle.

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Hot startup: Nory

​Nory, a Hospitech Dublin-based startup, has successfully raised €7M in a seed funding round. Nory has developed an innovative solution aimed at assisting restaurants to streamline their workflows. This recent round of funding follows a pre-seed round in 2021 which raised €2M.

Nory aims to use the funding to accelerate its go-to-market strategy and start expanding its customer base.

In Between the Lines:

The innovation behind Nory is deeply rooted in its technology and the first-hand industry knowledge of its founder, Conor Sheridan.

By leveraging artificial intelligence, Nory offers predictive insights and optimized operational strategies that are tailored to each restaurant. Sheridan's experience as the founder of one of Ireland's fastest-growing restaurant chains, Mad Egg, has allowed Nory to address pain points in the industry.

Lessons Learned:

Nory offers several valuable lessons for startups. It emphasizes innovation that stems from actual issues faced in the real world. The founder experienced these challenges firsthand as a restaurant operator, including managing the workforce, dealing with logistics, and improving operational efficiencies

As highlighted in an article by TechEU, Nory's approach to distinguish itself from its main competitor, Tenzo, offers another important lesson. Startups must first be aware of who their competitors are. Once you've identified who you're competing against, it's essential to carefully study their products or services.

With the knowledge of what competitors offer, startups can identify potential areas of differentiation. In Nory's case, it sets itself apart from Tenzo by providing an all-in-one solution for managing restaurant workflows, while Tenzo's focus is primarily on analytics. There are many ways to differentiate - it could be a special feature, high-quality service, competitive pricing, outstanding customer service, or anything else that adds significant value for the customer.

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Cheers,

Nico